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Happy Birthday to Lauren Bacall…

Lauren Bacall has been a true original from the days when she burst onto the scene as Humphrey Bogart’s leading lady in 1944’s “To Have and Have Not” then soonafter, became his wife.

After she ahd Bogie made four memorable movies together (“The Big Sleep,” “Key Largo” and “Dark Passage” and were about to start filming a fifth, he died of lung cancer and left her a widow at 32. They had been married just 13 years and had two children together. It was a premature end of one of the greatest love stories Hollywood had ever known.

Despite her triumphs on her own in such films as “How to Marry a Millionaire,” “Designing Woman,” “Written in the Wind” and “Youing Man With a Horn,” Hollywood did not offer her many movies after Bogart’s death. She moved to New York, married Jason Robards Jr. and had a son, the actor Sam Robards.

Then Bacall became the toast of Broadway spending years at a time in such hits as “Cactus Flower.” “Applause” and “Woman of the Year” and won two Tonys along the way. She also won the National Book Award for her acclaimed memoir “By Myself” and got busy with movies again appearing in “Murder on the Orient Express,” “The Shootist” (John Wayne’s final movie) and earning an Oscar nomination for 1996’s “The Mirror Has To Faces.”

Miss Bacall continues to work in film with recent roles in “The Walker” with Woody Harrelson (pictured, right) “Birth” and “Dogville” with Nicole Kidman as well as “Manderlay” and “These Foolish Things,” among others.

At 84, she is still healthy, still glamorous, still going strong….

Here is the famous scene from “To Have and Have Not” when she teaches Bogart to whistle. Hard to believe she was only 19!